Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Lydia’s P.O.V

I knocked on the guest bedroom door nervously, feeling guilty for having ditched Lyric completely last night. When I had come down for dinner last night, Ivy had informed me that he had retired to his room early and she had sent his dinner to his room.

I hadn’t disturbed him last night thinking that he might be tired, but this morning, I had to come knocking at his door because of selfish reasons.

When Lyric didn’t open the door after knocking on it twice, I tried turning the knob and found the door unlocked. Pushing the door open, I entered the guest room and shut the door behind me.

“Lyric?” I called out, finding the room empty.

The guest room wasn’t all that different from the other rooms in the house. It was a bit smaller in size with a closet, a queen sized bed and a study table and chair at one end of the room. It also had an attached bathroom. So I walked towards the bathroom to see if he was inside or if any of my brothers had murdered him overnight.

But as soon as I lifted my hand to knock on the bathroom door, it opened up, reveling a freshly showered Lyric with water dripping from his dark locks and a towel secured around his waist. I gasped in surprise and turned around but right at that instant, there was a knock on the guest room door and my brother’s voice came from the other side.

Before I knew what was happening, Lyric grabbed a hold of my hands, pulling me inside the bathroom and shutting the door behind us. I looked at Lyric with eyes as wide as they could get as he pressed one hand on top of my mouth to stop me from screaming and the other hand was behind my head, cushioning me against the door as he pressed me against it.

“David?” Nathan’s voice came from the other side as he entered the room.

“I’m taking a shower.” Lyric called out to my brother as I felt footsteps approaching on the other side of the door.

“Okay.” Nate answered from the other side. “Breakfast is ready. Come down to the dining room when you’re ready.”

“Sure, thanks.” Lyric called out but before we could sigh in relief that my brother was leaving, he came back once again.

“Oh, you don’t know the way to the dining, do you?” Nate asked. “I’ll wait here till you’re done so I can take you there.”

Lyric and I looked at each other in alarm before Lyric answered him. “It’s alright, I haven’t done showering yet. Why don’t you go ahead and wait downstairs? I’ll call if I need help.”

“Fine.” Nate said finally. “Works for me.”

And then we heard his footsteps retreating and the bedroom door shut with a click. Finally, Lyric and I sighed in relief as he removed his hand slowly from my mouth.

My eyes immediately went to his bare chest with the light dusting of hair and the droplets of water that were travelling down his skin in slow motion. I felt my throat dry out as I followed the path of a droplet with my eyes as it rolled down his toned chest and down his equally toned abdomen.

“Like what you see?”

The smugness in Lyric’s voice had me snapping my attention to his face as a smirk formed on his lush lips. Why was everything about Lyric suddenly so enticing? I’d seen him half-naked before when I treated his wounds? Then why was the sight of his abs suddenly giving me heart palpitations?

Pushing away from Lyric, I opened the bathroom door and almost ran outside. My breathing seemed uneven and I had to take a minute to get my emotions under control before I could face Lyric again.

Thankfully, he didn’t come out right away but a few seconds later and this time, he was wearing grey pajama bottoms and the towel was around his neck, covering most of his chest.

“So?” He raised his eyebrows at me and it was only then that I remembered what I had come here for.

“I want you to go somewhere with me.” I told him a bit nervously, even though I should be asking him instead. But I had a hunch he’d rather hang out with me than stay here and endure more scrutiny from my family.

“Okay?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “And what do I get in return?”

“Um…I’ll treat you to a friend chicken sandwich for breakfast?” I phased it almost like a question and watched a grin spread on Lyric’s face.

“Deal!” He gave me a mock salute. “I’ll get dressed and meet you out in five.”

Nodding in agreement I came out of Lyric’s room and headed downstairs to let my family know that I’d be going out for a bit. It’s one of the reasons why I decided to move town to begin with. After the accident, my family had become extremely paranoid. I couldn’t even go to the bathroom without telling anyone first. I could understand their paranoia but it was getting very suffocating for me. The last straw had been finding out that my father put a tracker on my phone during my high school finals.

I had expected to find either Stephen or Nate helping mom set up the dining table for breakfast, but instead, I stopped mid-step when I spotted my father sitting on his usual chair at the head of the table, sipping tea and reading the morning news on his phone.

“Dad?”

He looked up at me then, his green eyes widening in surprise for just a second before he got up from his chair and engulfed me in his arms.

“My beautiful angel!” He whispered in a hoarse voice before he pulled back and kissed my forehead. “How are you? Why didn’t you visit me last night?”

“I’m doing better now, dad.” I told him truthfully. “I wanted to come see you but you came home late last night and I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“My angel,” he cupped my cheeks. “No matter how late I am or how stressed I am, always know that I will have time for you. Now, tell me how everything is going? Are you having any problems at your new school? Are you well settled in?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “Everything is fine. I’ve made a friend. He’s here.”

“Ah! Your mother told me about him.” He looked at me skeptically. “So…where is this male friend of yours? I’d like to meet him.”

Oh boy! Dad was protective of me enough as it was, but now mom has told him about Lyric and I could only imagine what kind of thoughts were going on inside his head. Poor Lyric. He’ll have to bear his scrutiny just for coming to my house.

“He’ll be down in a minute.”

“Lydia?”

I spoke the same instant as Lyric called my name from the top of the stairs, all dressed in a grey shirt and black trousers with the sleeves folded up to his elbows. My dad’s eyes immediately narrowed towards him and I knew he was inspecting him from head to toe, making all kinds of possible judgments.

“David…meet my dad, the Senator.” I introduced the two of them carefully. “And dad, this is David Donovan.”

“Good morning, sir. It’s nice to meet you.” Lyric mastered up his most charming smile as he extended his hand towards dad.

“Morning.” Dad shook his hand with a frown. “Donovan, was it? You look familiar…have we met before?”

“Um…I don’t think so, sir.” Lyric looked at me in confusion before shifting his eyes back to my father. “Maybe you know my parents? They are Daniel and Mila Donovan.”

“Ah! You’re Daniel’s son! That’s why you looked so familiar.” A smile spread on my father’s face as his aura turned from hostile to warm. “How are your parents doing?”

“They’re still out on a business trip.” Lyric smiled as well, genuinely this time as I saw his shoulders relax. “I didn’t know you knew my parents.”

“I stay at your father’s hotels whenever I travel.” Dad told him. “We became friends after my second visit about nine years ago. He talks about his boys a lot whenever he’s away.”

“I’m so glad to hear it.”

“Come, join us for breakfast.” Dad said, but I stopped him.

“Actually, dad, me and David are going out for a bit.” I interrupted. “We’ll be back before lunch but I really have to go out.”

“Whatever your plan are, it has to wait.” Dad said strictly. “Breakfast is a must. Come.”

So, me and Lyric followed my dad to the dining table for a light breakfast with the family where everyone got to know that Lyric’s parents were dad’s friends and instantly, I felt most of the hostility drain away as my brother’s saw him in a new light.

I don’t know why but I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders seeing how everyone was now more accepting of Lyric.